Today in Strasbourg, the European Parliament approved clearer rules on energy efficiency labelling. Current A+++ labels no longer reflect the technological advances made in recent years and will by the end of 2019 at the latest be replaced by labels with a unified and clearer A to G scale, where A is the best performing and G the worst.

The new rules will help customers to buy low consumption household products, and save both on energy and hundreds of Euros in electricity bills every year. The S&D Group had led the drive for stronger market surveillance but was disappointed that their calls for consumer compensation met with resistance from the Commission and national governments.

S&D spokesperson on energy efficiency labelling, MEP Martina Werner, said:

“The new energy labels will help consumers buy low consumption household products, and save on both money and electricity. Average households can save up to 500 Euros per year. Current labels are really confusing for consumers misleading them into believing that an ‘A’ class appliance was one of the most efficient on the market, whereas it may be one of the least efficient. The new labels will put an end to this.

“Drawing the lessons from Dieselgate we really pushed for stronger market surveillance. A public online database will give consumers a tool to compare the energy efficiency of products. With a few clicks consumers will know if a product is an energy guzzler or an energy saver.

“During the negotiations with the Commission and national governments the S&D Group had led the drive for consumer compensation. We are disappointed that our calls to compensate consumers defrauded by wrongly-labelled goods fell on deaf years. We will continue to put pressure on the Commission to close this loop-hole.”